The Dirt

Halo Infinite teases the return of the Banished

By Eric Abent/

Halo Infinite will definitely wind up being one of the biggest games of the year, in part because it'll be a launch title for the Xbox Series X. We haven't heard too much about the game yet, but that's presumably going to change next month when Microsoft unveils its Xbox 20/20 presentation for July. In the lead up to that show, it seems that the folks at 343 Industries are teasing one of the game's enemy factions.

A new teaser posted to Twitter today signals the return of the Banished. The video clip doesn't really show anything aside from a transmission from the Banished, but it tells us enough, revealing that the Banished have landed on a Halo and are only a few hours from taking it over. Master Chief, it seems, is going to have some strong opposition in Halo Infinite.

If you're not familiar with the Banished, don't worry – they made their debut in Halo Wars 2 and haven't yet made an appearance in a main series game, so you didn't miss anything big in previous mainline Halo entries. The Banished are a mercenary organization that split off from the primary Covenant faction during the events of the Human-Covenant War.

After revealing a number of third-party games destined for Xbox Series X, Microsoft has announced that it will host an Xbox 20/20 livestream in July dedicated to Xbox Series X titles in development at the 15 companies under the Xbox Game Studios umbrella. Halo Infinite has already been confirmed for the show, so keep your fingers crossed for some gameplay footage at the very least.

That presentation in July might reveal more about the Banished and their role in Halo Infinite, or reveal more enemy factions aside from them. We'll have to wait and see what happens during this Xbox 20/20 presentation, which still doesn't have a premiere date. We'll let you know when that changes, so stay tuned.

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